


Rice and Carrots

by CeaselessCow2011



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 4
Genre: Fluff, Food, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Gay, Good for them, M/M, and foxboy helps, horseface and shrimpbrain pine for each other, these bitches gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeaselessCow2011/pseuds/CeaselessCow2011
Summary: Dylas loves Doug. But does Doug love him back, and even if so, will the two get along well?
Relationships: Doug/Dylas (Rune Factory)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Rice and Carrots

_Bring the water to a boil before adding rice. Put a lid over the rice, and remove the pot from heat. Chop carrots and put them into a small frying pan, cooking them until they turn a slight brown colour. Take the lid off of the pot with the rice in it and fluff the rice. Add in carrots, stir, and put into a bowl. Serve._

Dylas had done this many times before. Porco would try and snag a bite or two from time to time, but most of the time cooking in the kitchen of the restaurant was actually quite peaceful. Margaret would come in and play the piano during business hours, and groups of people would sit in the nice, freshly cleaned chairs. It was home. It always had been home, right from the moment he had stepped into the restaurant with Porco for the first time. Sure, it wasn’t a lake by any means, but when he wasn’t fishing, Dylas was cooking, and it was one of his few passions.

The dish he was preparing was a specialty dish, which no one would really get except for Doug. Dylas had to admit, it did feel pretty nice when the short, red-haired dwarf would come in asking for the special rice dish. It made Dylas’ heart flutter whenever Doug came in. Others, like Leon, were keen on noticing this, and would be quick to call it out, but Dylas made it a point to be even faster with a lined up excuse. One of his favourites was to scoff and say “There’s no way I’d ever like such a pea-brained dwarf like him.”

In the back of his mind, he was always hit with a twinge of worry when saying such insults in front of Doug, but it was their thing. The two could hang out for hours just spouting insults at each other. On the rare chance they had actually complimented the other, it was because someone else had told them to, which would mostly either be Margaret, Blossom, or even Porco and Nancy a few times. 

But of course, Dylas never mentioned his worry or his fluttering stomach to Doug. Just when he felt he could finally say something, Doug would tease him about fumbling with his words, and Dylas would then call him an idiot and walk away. After walking away, Dylas always found himself going to the Dragon Lake and fishing until it either got dark or he was calm enough to go home and get some rest. 

Setting down the warm bowl of rice and carrots in front of Doug always made Dylas smile. “One bowl of specialty Gohan to Ninjin for the red-haired shrimp.” He teased, giving Doug a smirk. Doug playfully punched Dylas’ shoulder. “Shut up, horse-face.” He said, smiling brightly. Dylas scoffed and went back to the kitchen. 

“You really have it bad for him, don’t you?” A voice sounded near him. There Leon stood, with a shit-eating grin on his face, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. 

“The hell’s your problem, Leon!” Dylas jumped in surprise. He felt his face redden as he realized what Leon had said. “And just for the record, I do _not_ have it bad for Doug!”

Leon chuckled lightly and looked right through Dylas. “Right. You know, your face is so red right now that if we went to Dr. Jones’ place right now, he’d take one look at you and faint on the spot.” He remarked. “Look, as fun as you are to tease, I wanna help you.”

“Help me? Who said I need help?”

Leon looked more serious now, with a look so piercing it went right through Dylas’ soul. “Your heart.”

Dylas sighed in defeat. There was no getting out of this one and he knew it. “Fine. But can we at least go somewhere else for this?”

Leon nodded. “I know just the place. Ready to go out of town?”

This made Dylas sceptical. “Out of town? Leon, what do you have in mind?”

“Why, the Water Ruins of course. That or we could stay in Selphia where there’s a high likelihood of a certain someone listening in-”

“Fine, fine, I’m in, let me tell Porco I’m done with work for now.” And with that, Dylas went to Porco, told him, and left the restaurant with Leon, but not before sneaking a final glance at Doug, who was devouring his rice dish. 

The two used the airship to get to the Water Ruins, as it was a faster and easier mode of transportation; a lot better than smiting Orcs, Woolys, Big Mucks and Cluckadoodles at every turn, that’s for sure.

The two reached the path leading to the entrance of the ruins. They walked on until they reached the room where Thunderbolt used to be. They sat in the middle of the large room, sitting across from each other.

“So…” Dylas started. “What now? How exactly are you going to help me?”

“Well, there’s a few directions we could take here. You could take the direct route, which would mean just going up to Doug and confessing to him, or you could do the non-confrontational approach.”

“I don’t think I could just up and tell Doug how I feel. He’d take it as a joke if I did it like that.”

Leon nodded. “I thought as much, but it was still a route we could take nonetheless, which is why I brought it up. Now for the non-confrontational route. Do you know all of his likes and dislikes?”

“Well, he absolutely loves rice, especially things like Onigiri, my specialty rice dish, and Tempura Bowl. He despises any kind of bread with a passion, like Raisin Bread, Steamed Bread and French Toast… And I know he likes the Eating Contest and doesn’t really like the Fishing Frenzy Contest. He also really loves caring for others and has a passion for protecting the ones he loves, he’s a stubborn bastard when it comes to that stuff.” Dylas smiled as he spoke about Doug. 

Leon nodded. “I see. So, he likes eating and you like cooking, right? Something you could do is ask Doug to meet you in the restaurant to taste test some rice dishes, which will surely lure him in, then you can make his favourite rice dishes and all that, then when he comes into the restaurant he can start eating the dishes and he can tell you what tastes good.”

“How do I go from there? Should I say something?”

“Hmm… Maybe after he’s done with them all you can ask him which one he liked best, then you can make more of that, and sit with him and eat it. Make a little date out of it. Then after you two chat over your rice, then you spill the beans. You say something sappy like “Oh Doug, I love you soooo much!!! I wanna kiss you and snuggle with you and even ha-””

“That’s enough!! I get your point-” Dylas interrupted. He sighed, looking down on the cold ground. “But, what if he makes fun of me? Or starts hating me because of it? What then?”

“Then that’s _his_ problem. Not yours. But just a little something, between you and I… I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Hell, the other day, Vishnal brought you up, remarking how he should have you teach him to cook some day, and Doug’s face turned pink. Got a good laugh out of it, he looked like a Pink Melon.”

Dylas chuckled at this comparison. “So you really think I have a chance?”

Leon shook his head. “It’s less of a _think_ and more of a _know_ , Dylas.”

“Right. Well, should we head back to Selphia then?”

“Yeah, let’s.”

And with that, the two were off again. They took the airship back to Selphia. By now, it was almost dark. Leon looked to Dylas as they got off the airship. “When are you gonna execute the plan?”

Dylas shrugged. “I don’t know. If Doug’s in the restaurant, then I guess tonight, but if not then I guess whenever I see him next.”

Leon nodded in approval. “Good plan. Cya around, best of luck to you.” He gave Dylas a look; it was a certain look he gave to all the guardians. A look that says ‘You can do anything you put your mind to.’ Dylas nodded and went off. He went into the restaurant to see Doug nervously talking to Margaret and Porco.

“Dylas! Why don’t you go get me some groceries? Here’s a handy-dandy list for you! Toodles!” Porco shoved a list in Dylas’ hands and pushed him out. “Take your time!” 

“Agh-!” Dylas was surprised. More than that, he was confused. What was going on? He went off to the general store anyway. Opening the shop’s door, he was greeted by Blossom. “Why hello, Dylas!” Blossom smiled. “No Doug with you tonight? Haven’t seen him for awhile…” 

“Oh, yeah, he was just at the restaurant talking to Meg and Porco about something. He seemed pretty nervous and Porco even pushed me out. That’s actually why I’m here, I’m apparently on grocery duty.”

Blossom’s face lit up. “Oh dear! I forgot that was today.” She said. "Doug had some work to do at the restaurant, and I’m supposed to keep you here until Meg gets you.” She said casually. 

Dylas raised a brow. “So this grocery list isn’t important?”

“Nope. It sure isn’t. But I still need to make sure you stay here, you understand.”

“Right.” He nodded. He looked around the shop. “So… How long do you think it’ll be?”

Blossom shrugged. “Knowing Doug, it could be anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple hours…”

This made Dylas more suspicious. “Okay, then… Say, Blossom, do you happen to know why Doug’s at the restaurant right now?”

This made Blossom chuckle. “I do, but you’re not getting an explanation out of me.”

“Mm.” Dylas said, his ear flicking ever so slightly. “Kay. I’ll look around then.”

“Would you mind straightening up the items on the shelf for me, dear?”

“Yeah, of course.” Dylas nodded, humming slightly as he went around the shop. He tidied things up neatly around the shop and took his time doing so. 

Eventually Margaret came in, smiling brightly. “Hey Dylas! You should come back to the restaurant!” She called. Dylas inhaled deeply. He figured he may as well be ready for whatever was about to come his way. He followed Margaret out of the shop.

“Bye, Blossom!” He and Meg called.

Blossom waved goodbye, an everlasting sweet smile on her face.

As the two walked to Porcoline’s Kitchen, Margaret was cheerful. She had a bright expression on her face, much like the one she had when talking about music or fruit. She had a certain spring in her step that Dylas noticed right away from the sing-songy tone in her voice when she had called his name when he was in Blossom’s General Store. He had decided not to say anything about it, but it was obvious to him that something very big was about to happen.

They reached the door of the restaurant. Meg opened the door for him. Dylas walked into a dimly lit restaurant, the only illumination being several candles placed around. On the long table were a varying number of dishes, which featured dishes like Lover Sashimi, Milk Porridge, Tempura Bowl, Salmon Onigiri, and even Dylas’ specialty rice dish, Gohan to Ninjin. Standing next to the table was Doug. He was smiling nervously.

“I know my cooking skills are nowhere near yours, but I wanted to cook for you, and I really hope you like it!” Doug said a bit loudly. The volume made Dylas’ ears flicker. He wasn’t expecting this. Dylas stood there, staring from Doug to the table a couple times before Porco cleared his throat. “Wellll? Are you going to do something, Dylas?”

Dylas cracked a smile. He really was happy about this. “Well, we’ll see just how good your skills are, I guess. Can’t be as bad as Vishnal-!” He said, sitting himself at the table. Doug’s grin widened as he sat across from him. 

Doug grabbed the plate of Lover Sashimi first and grabbed his chopsticks. Dylas grabbed his own set of chopsticks and the two ate. Dylas was so surprised that his tail started wagging ever so slightly. He was thrilled. “This tastes really good!” Doug smiled even more. “You really think so?” Dylas nodded and took a couple more bites, as did Doug.

Next was the Milk Porridge. Doug and Dylas were both equally excited for this one. The two dug in, grabbing their spoons. They both liked it, which was obvious by the grins on their faces as they ate. They didn’t need words to tell each other how much they liked the dish.

Next was the Tempura Bowl. The two ate and savoured the flavors it had to offer, and Doug was more excited about it than Dylas, but it was evident Dylas was still enjoying himself, which was a major score in Doug’s book.

Next up was the Salmon Onigiri. The two each grabbed one of the triangularly shaped rice balls wrapped in Salmon and ate them quickly. Dylas commented on how well the salmon tasted, and Doug enjoyed the taste of the rice.

Last but not least, Doug pulled out a big, warm bowl of Dylas’ special dish, Rice and Carrots, or Gohan to Ninjin. Dylas went to grab his chopsticks when Doug interrupted him. “Before we eat, I wanted to tell you why I did all this- If I can-” He stammered a little bit, faltering slightly.

“Kay. I’m listening.” Dylas looked into Doug’s nervous eyes. 

“I’m not that great at cooking, you know that! But, I wanted to do this for you cause you’re a real bastard and I am too! And god dammit, horseface, I love you! So I made you food, cause I know you like food just as much as I do, and I just… Wanted to do something nice for you-” The dwarf’s face was almost as red as his hair at this point. He sighed. “I really like you and I don’t wanna mess this up.” He admitted.

Dylas had to take a moment, but after that small moment, he grinned. “You sly bastard,” he started, “I was planning on doing something like this for you, but I guess you beat me to it-”

“Wait- really?” Doug was shocked at this.

Dylas nodded. “Yeah. Hell, I even talked to Leon earlier about this. I like you too, Doug.”

Doug and Dylas stared at each other in the eyes for several moments before Porco went near the table. “Hey lovebirds, are you going to eat that?” He gestured to the rice dish.

“Right- no, we are Porco-” Dylas said, chuckling. The lovebirds ate the Gohan to Ninjin and finished it all.

Who knew Rice and Carrots went so well together?


End file.
